Double Cream Stout derives its name from its smooth, creamy texture, not the ingredients. Completely dairy-free, this stout blends ten different specialty malts to yield a remarkable depth of flavor. With only a touch of burnt notes, Double Cream Stout focuses on the softer, cocoa & espresso-like aspects of roasted malt.

Pours a deep dark black abyss like you'd expect from a heavily malted stout. A nice head forms and sticks around for a while.

Aroma was a little off. The usual suspects were here but something wasn't quite right. I found it hard to pick out the tastes and smells on this one. I knew that I really didn't dig the harsh bitterness in this stout and I like hoppy beers. The harshness was more from a burnt wort or burnt grain taste than from hops.

Thanks to drgonzo3705 for tossing this on a recent trade, I had been wanting to try this once. On name alone I am intrigued. Pours a very thin head, and a jet black, but thin looking brew. Its odd, it doesn't look as much like a stout, as it does an extremely dark ale, just not as dense. A fair amount of carbonization, as well. The creamy, sweet smell is strong, and quite delicious. That cream comes through hard in the flavor as well, it tastes like part beer, and part cream soda. There is a bit too much carbonation for my taste in a stout, and that combined with the sweetness deters me from being able to have much more than one.

Appearance: This beer pours from the bottle oil slick deep black color. There is a thick dark down head that sits on top of the beer with a persistent staying power.

Smell: This beer has a definite oatmeal aroma which nearly overpowers all other present aromas. There is a slight sweet roast in the background along with some nutty and bready characters.

Taste: The oat also comes through distinctly upon taking a swig. There is almost roasted pecan flavor and a definite white burnt sugar sweetness to the beer. This beer's flavors are extremely unbalanced with the distinct, dominate, not pleasant oat character followed by awkward sweetness and a dry alcohol burn.

Mouthfeel: The beer does have a pleasant body that is thick and chewy without making it a sipper beer. There is a definitely slick feeling to the beer which I would guess is from copious amounts of oat in the grist.

Drinkability: The unbalanced flavors and armoa do not lend to making this beer drinkable. I wouldn't want to drink more than one in an evening.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Bell's makes some fantastic beers, but this is not one of them. It's disappointing because their Kalamazoo Stout is such a fantastic beer. Unless you are a big fan of massive oat character stay away from this beer. Instead, save yourself some cash and go pick up a sixer of Bell's Porter or traditional Kalamazoo Stout.

Poured into a Sam Adams Sensory Glass. Pours a 1.5 finger tan head. that dissipates to a thin layer. It left some nice lace rings down the side of the glass. Color is a deep deep brown, pretty much black.

The aroma is very robust. It reminded me a lot of Bell's porter: very smokey and malty with hints of carmel. Taste is very smokey and roasty. The beer is very malty. It seems as if the chocolate taste is burnt in this beer.

Mouthfeel is a little more bitter than I expected, after a few seconds it gets creamy and ends with a pretty clean aftertaste. Seems decently carbonated.

Overall, this is a decent beer, however I would rather get a different product for the price. I enjoyed expedition a lot more and hopslam is such a bomb. This is one of bell's more expensive products and I just don't like it enjoy to want to purchase it again. All-in-all, a great beer, just not my favorite.

A - Black or very deep brown in color, completely opaque. Light brown head fades to a thin film. A few small dots of lacing.

S - Rich dark fruits and burnt sugar, along with sweet cream and vanilla. Smells like creme brulee... with some dark fruits.

T - Starts out very creamy, a mild dark fruity sweetness with a hoppy bitterness follow quickly. Dark fruits become lighter, sweeter, like grape juice. A quick hit of a coffee like flavor and then a creamy and rich dark fruity finish.

Appearance: Basically pitch black in a ppearance with a pillowy, frothy looking light coffee colored head, looks like the top of a milk chocolate shake.

Smell: A little chocolate and subtle coffee, also an alarming aroma that is almost akin to copper or coins.

Taste: Thick and rich with big roasted flavor but no big coffee like bitterness this one is all smooth and balanced. Slightly sweet milky finish that lingers and makes you want more. Alcohol is not terribly detectable but somewhat apparent with a warming sensation although this beer is in no way boozy

OVerall: a highly enjoyable stout from an excellent brewery. Right up there with lancaster's milk stout, but i would still say that lancaster takes the style imho

Bottle, batch 8273 (12/19/07). Pours black with no head. Aroma of raisin and sweet malt, light chocolate notes. Flavor is sweet and raisiny initially with a roasty finish. Unfortunately this is past it's prime, but I didn't realize how old it was when I purchased it. It's decent overall though.6/4/7/3/14 (3.4/5)

This beer pours black as night. When I held this up to the light for closer inspection, little changed. This is as dark as tar and there is no light getting through. The bartender was nice enough to leave a solid two finger tan head that receded quickly. There is a medium amount of tan lacing that graces the side of the glass.

Roasted malts dominate the nose. A smell of freshly brewed coffee is also present. This is rounded out with a nice sweetness that begs of cream, cinnamon, and chocolate.

The sweet tastes are present upfront. Chocolate, molasses, and whipped cream are what I detect. This is followed by the taste of coffee and roasted nuts and malt. It finishes dry with a slight bitterness that helps round out the flavor.

This beer has a creaminess that is heavenly. It has a good balance on sweetness mixed with roasted flavors. It is extremely drinkable, partly because the 7.5% abv. is hardly noticeable. This beer would be great alone or with the dessert of your choice.

A - Dark brown with a thin head that dissipates quickly leaving very little lacingS - Hints of coffee, chocolate, malt. Mild but pleasant.T - A rather complex menage of flavors, most of which are related to the malty character of this brew. I like it more as I approach the bottom of my pint glass and get my nose down in there a bit. Mildly bitter finish as some hops seem to surface.M - Nicely creamy feel. About what I would expect from a milk stout.D - For my tastes, pretty easy drinking. Could do a couple.

A pretty good brew for this style, a good brew in general. Bell's rarely disappoints with their interpretation of various beer styles. I have to salute them for this.

Having said that, this beer has the unfortunate distinction of being of the same style as one of my go-to beers, Mackeson's Triple XXX. While I enjoyed this beer and would recommend it, I would personally just as soon grab a Mack. I try not to let my personal taste interfere with objectivity, but since I'm comparing apples to apples... well there you go.

Appearance: Roasted malty black that allows no light to pass through it. A dark brew.

Smell: Average. One can get a small taste of the coffee notes here.

Taste: Great tasting brew. Thick and creamy, as the name implies. A lot of chocolate and coffee notes here. Super thick and sugary that renders any surface it touches sticky.

Mouthfeel: Very creamy and smooth, yet thick and intriguing.

Drinkability: it's hard for a beer to have all of the aforementioned qualities and be as easy to drink as a domestic and, alas, this brew fails in this category. I found it hard to have more than 2 of these in a sitting. The sticky residue, harsh taste, and full bodied characteristics allow this beer to be a treat, rather than a go to brew.

A: French roast dark with a slight touch of brown on the edges. Head begins with some moderate strength and finishes with a glass tingling edge and a dance of lace.

S: Definite malt here, complex, almost too much digest as far as smells. Dark, rich, smooth, malty, almost too much of a jumble. The bottle says 10 different types of malt, not much hop smell here but who can be surprised?

T: Smooth, very smooth, you'd think there was some oatmeal tossed into this brew. So smooth you'd never think it was 7.5%. Slight bitter in the beginning, ends with a chocolate malty tone. Aftertaste is very pleasant.

M: Almost like an oatmeal stout. Silky with a lingering touch of malt on the palette. The finish is very nice, exceptionally light for such a malty beer.

D: An exceptional beer in the drinkability realm. I would be hard pressed to find a smoother stout that could handle itself on an evening of enjoyment quite like this beer. If there is one fault to the beer it is the "busy" taste. You get so many tastes and flavors all at once. By the end of the glass you can notice some additional flavors coming forth but its like watching someone in the fog, almost... but not quite.

Appearance:Pours an opaque dark brown/black like espresso. The head retention is good and the head itself is a chocolate color. After the foam settles a thin dark brown lacing remains on the top. Beautiful!

Smell:This stout smells of chocolate and espresso. The malts overpower the hops, but the malts are the accent of this style. If I had to say, I would say the hops were floral smelling. The beer has a pungency, almost sour smelling.

Taste:The taste is very interesting. It tastes of smoked, malt or patent black malt which gives it a charred flavor--delightful!--and has a robust roasted flavor. In all the beer presents a very round, complex flavor, and on top of that, it is well carbonated, giving it a nice bite and added dimension.

Mouthfeel:The mouthfeel is thick, very thick and complements the thick flavor. Just what I would expect from a highly malty beer style. THe way it is supposed to be brewed!

Drinkability:In conclusion, I like this one a lot. A little heavy for more than one in a sitting, but this is to be expected from such a robust beer. I will definitely buy this one again, and I would have to say, I think it was better than most of the other Bell's beers I have tried.

This beer was recommended by Emily at Palmer's in Columbus, Oh. Emily, you recommended a lot to me that night, I sure am glad that this one a beer that you pushed me on, i sure am glad I picked this one up.

A. Ok from pour, a very Dark brown with no visibility coming through, but a lot of carbonation coming up from the bottom. A very highly carbonated dark caramel head is present upon release from the bottle. It's overall presence is ok, but not anything overly impressive.

S Tons of bourbon, caramel, and coffee. Tones of it. This beer has a very sweet and woody scent to it. Definitely feels like and smells like a bourbon barrel aged beer. The scent is very warming but lacks refinement.

T. The taste is good, its got the complexity of a good stout, but lacks certain flavors that should be there. It doesn't live up to it's name, where's the double cream? Regardless the oat presence is noticeable. Some dryness is provided through both roasted malts and coffee bitterness. Some pretty good chocolate come out, and very slight dark fruit hints, mainly rasphberry. As noticeable in the smell, tons of bourbon. Not too much, but slightly overpowering to the other flavors. There's a slight roughness to the flavor, which I'm assuming is coming from the caramel malts. This is a good beer, I'm interested to see if it will smooth out with time.

Opaque fudgy blackness with an enormous head despite an easy-handed pour. The head is bumpy and creamy, retaining very well. Thick lace forms a kind of honeycomb pattern on the glass. This looks, as the English say, "the business."

Aroma of sweet cream and milk chocolate shavings, also lightly fruity and a slight hint of mineral in back.

Flavor is somewhat of a letdown, if I'm comparing it with any other Bell's stout. Even for the style it seems merely okay. Watery chocolate, coffee bitterness, fruit zing, and the sweetness of fresh cream. Mineral rides through in the finish.

Heavily carbonated, and too much so. There's a smoothness in there, I can feel a nice velvety texture, but I found it too tingly. It's certainly not due to excessive coldness, as I'm drinking this just barely below room temperature.

Easily my least favorite Bell's beer so far (I've tried 14 to date). It's not at all bad--I don't think even the worst Bell's beer would be terrible--and it won't be a chore getting through the other 3 remaining from the 6-pack. But I probably won't return. And, yeah, we should review to style, and I believe I am, but this has never been my favorite style, so...

The stout pours the expected blackish brown color, but with exceptional head retention and lacing. The head on this beer has something of a cocoa color, which I quite appreciate. The beer is likewise very attractive on the nose, with some noticeable chocolate, vanilla and coffee, but with a fine roasty, almost burnt toast aroma as well. The flavors on the palate generally replicate the nose, with moderate sweetness, but with enought hoppy bitterness to keep that sweetness from becoming overwhelming. The mouthfeel is very light and creamy, and might be this beers best feature. The beer is very drinkable, with the 7.5% alcohol well disguised.

This beer is nothing like the expedition stout, and is a nice departure from some of the RIS's I've been drinking of late. A very nice effort from Bell's, to no great surprise.

Pours a nearly impenetrable black with a tall brown head with long retention. The smell is of surprisingly faint but still delicious cocoa powder. Taste is roasty: big on the dark chocolate and coffee elements, more sweet than bitter, all around yummy. Could be considerably heavier but still its weight is sufficient and quite easily sustainable if you want to drink several of these guys in a sitting.